This delicious from scratch pasta recipe is amazingly fresh and delicate. Using only 3 staple ingredients, homemade pasta is easy enough that anyone can make it and so tasty that your family will be raving.
Grab a glass of your favorite red wine, turn on some Italian music, and channel your best Italian accent. We are making my most favorite food….Pasta!
Pasta, is there really anything better? Its one of those foods that I just never get tired of, maybe its my Italian heritage, or maybe its just amazing stuff. Marinara, Bolognese, Meat-a-balls-a, Alfredo, Stroganoff, pesto or just buttered pasta…. It really doesn’t matter, I love it all….
This delicious from scratch Pasta recipe is a classic and quite simple, but the results are A-mazing! The pasta comes out delicate, tender and so fresh tasting. It makes me question why I ever buy the tough chewy noodles from grocery stores.
This recipe is fun and so easy! It reminds me of playing with play dough, so go ahead and let those kiddos get involved! Before we get started, here are a few tips to help you succeed at the best homemade pasta your tastebuds will ever settle upon.
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Tips For Making Delicious From Scratch Pasta
Tip # 1- Rest your Dough
This first one is pretty simple and straight forward. Letting your dough rest for about 15- 30 minutes, before you begin rolling it out, allows the flour to fully absorb the water and the glutens in the dough to relax, causing your dough to be easier to roll out. Make sure you cover your dough or it will dry out. Wrapping it in plastic wrap will keep the moisture in.
Tip # 2 – Use a stand mixer or food processor
While this tip isn’t necessary at all, it certainly makes things easier and keeps your kitchen a bit cleaner. I mix by hand in my video, but in the past I used my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. Sometimes I just don’t want the extra dishes.
Traditionally pasta was made by piling flour onto a cutting board, making a well in the center, and adding the wet ingredients to the well and mixing from the inside out, incorporating flour as you work your moist ingredients by hand.
It really won’t matter whether you mix with a mixer or by hand as long as you get the correct consistency and moisture level. Your dough should be wet enough to stay together but not sticky.
Tip # 3- Wear and Apron
I felt like I would be wrong to not give you a heads up. Pasta making is messy business. I have made the mistake of not wearing an apron too many times and regret it every single time. If you are anything like me, you will have flour all over you. But that’s part of the fun too.
Is From Scratch Pasta Healthier than Store Bought?
In short, the answer is yes, absolutely! For starters, and perhaps the most obvious, you have much more control over the ingredients you use. You are able to customize to your needs and desires. Do you only use organic ingredients, or want to ensure your food contains no preservatives or fillers? Do you want to optimize the nutritional value in your pasta? Making pasta from scratch gives you the freedom to do just that.
Second, many would agree that the use of eggs adds a hearty source of protein, but they also offer other beneficial nutrients such as disease fighting lutein, iron, and carotenoids. Using farm fresh eggs from a local farm can add even more nutrition to your pasta and a richer taste.
Lastly, Semolina flour, with its nuttier taste is more flavorful than your typical all purpose flour. It also boasts added protein along with higher magnesium content. Semolina is considered one of the healthiest grains.
What flour is best for From Scratch Pasta?
Really this depends on which type of pasta you are making. All purpose flour can be used, after all it is for all purposes. However, for some types of pasta, such a penne or rigatoni where you count on the ridges to pick up the sauce and hold onto it, or hold its tubular shape through the cooking process, a sturdier flour like Semolina is pretty important.
Another flour commonly used for pasta is “00” flour, a finer ground soft wheat. “00” flour has a much more subtle taste than semolina, creates a more delicate pasta, and is great for pastas like ravioli or tortellini where you don’t want to detract from the delicious fillings.
Do I need a pasta machine to make from scratch pasta?
Fortunately, the answer is no. Really all you need to make pasta is a rolling pin, a knife, and a clean work surface.
However, Pasta machines can make the work a bit easier and faster but they certainly aren’t necessary.
I have owned my pasta machine, see below, for at least 10 years, probably a bit longer. I found it on clearance at a major kitchen store and snatched it up! SCORE!
Without a machine, you will just need to be a bit more careful about thickness. Once you roll your sheets of pasta to your desired thickness, flour the tops of the sheets, and gently fold it in half, and then half again. This way you can cut your pasta strands more uniformly, but they won’t stick together.
Just a few helpful tips about pasta machines like the one below, off the record…
- Never stick a pasta machine in a dishwasher or even get it wet. Just wipe it clean with a slightly damp paper towel. I hate to admit how I know this….
- Another tip that I also hate to admit how I know, Never try to take one of these things apart. You wouldn’t believe how many pieces have to be fitted just right to get it to go back together. Im still amazed my dad made it happen.
Of course, if you are fortunate enough to own the Kitchen Aid Pasta Attachments then where you attach it won’t be an issue. I have put off buying one of these because I already own a manual machine and as far a single purpose attachments, they just aren’t in the budget.
Tools you may need For Delicious From Scratch Pasta
- Pasta Machine
- Whisk
- Bowl or Mixer
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Pasta Drying Rack or Plate
- Measuring Spoons
- Measuring Cups
Ingredients for making Pasta
- All purpose or Semolina flour
- Avocado or Olive oil
- eggs
- water
Directions For Delicious From Scratch Pasta
Step #1: Add ingredients
To a bowl, add 2 cups of flour. Make a well in the center. To the Well, add 2 eggs, 1-2 tablespoons of oil, 1 tsp of salt and 2 tablespoons of water.
Step #2: Mix the Ingredients
Begin mixing by breaking the yolks of your eggs and gently stirring the wet ingredients together while slowly bringing more and more flour into the wet ingredients
Step #3: You need to Knead
Once all of the ingredients are well mixed, knead your dough for 5-10 minutes. This is where a stand mixer comes in handy. But dont worry, if you get tired of kneading, your hand crank pasta machine will also knead your dough as you roll it out
Step #4: Rest the pasta dough
Rest your dough in your bowl, covered with a wet cloth to prevent the dough from drying out.
Step #5: Divide and Conquer
Once your dough has rested, divide it into 4 equal parts. Working with a quarter of the dough at a time, gently press it by hand, or with a rolling pin, into a rounded rectangle about 1/2 an inch thick. This will allow it to move through the thickest setting easily.
Step #6: Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’… keep that pasta Rollin’
Run the dough through on the thickest setting.
Fold the dough into 3rds and rotate a quarter turn. Repeat 2 to 3 more times. This will knead your dough and shape the sheets so you get a more uniform length.
Next adjust your machine down two steps. On my machine I go from setting 7 to setting 5. Run the dough through on this setting 2 times, without folding.
Adjust down 2 more settings to 3 and run your dough through 1-2 times. Your dough will get long and difficult to manage. At this point cut it into half or even thirds.
The lowest setting is one. Depending on your preference, you can either stop at 2 or adjust all the way down to the one. I chose one this time, but if I were making Ravioli, or Lasagna, I would stick with two, to give the dough a bit more strength.
Step #7: To Cut or Not to Cut your From Scratch Pasta
Once you roll the dough on your thinnest preferred setting, you can now process it for your purpose. If you want to make ravioli, its ready for that. Im making fettuccine sized noodles for Beef Stroganoff so I ran the pasta sheets through the fettuccine cutter.
Viola! You have just made Delicious, Delicate, Fluffy and Authentic Completely From Scratch Pasta! Great Job!
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From Scratch Pasta Recipe
Equipment
- Pasta Machine
- Rolling Pin
- Knife
Ingredients
- 2 Cups` Flour
- 2 to 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2-4 Tbsp water
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- To a bowl, add 2 cups of flour. Make a well in the center.
- To the well, add 2 eggs, 1-2 tablespoons of oil, 1 tsp of salt and 2 tablespoons of water.
- Begin mixing by breaking the yolks of your eggs and gently stirring the wet ingredients together while slowly bringing more and more flour into the wet ingredients.
- Once all of the ingredients are well mixed, kneed your dough for 5-10 minutes. This is where a stand mixer comes in handy.
- Rest your dough in your bowl, covered with a wet cloth to prevent the dough from drying out.
- Once your dough has rested, divide it into 4 equal parts.
- Working with a quarter of the dough at a time, gently press it by hand into a rounded rectangle about 1/2 an inch thick. This will allow it to move through the thickest setting easily.
- Run the dough through on the thickest setting.
- Fold the dough into 3rds and rotate a quarter turn. Repeat 2 to 3 more times. This will knead your dough and shape the sheets so you get a more uniform length.
- Next adjust your machine down two steps. On my machine I go from setting 7 to setting 5. Run the dough through on this setting 2 times, without folding.
- Adjust down 2 more settings to 3 and run your dough through 1-2 times. Your dough will get long and difficult to manage. At this point cut it into half or even thirds.
- The lowest setting is one. Depending on your preference, you can either stop at 2 or adjust all the way down to the one. I chose one this time, but if I were making Ravioli, or Lasagna, I would stick with two, to give the dough a bit more strength.
- Once you roll the dough on your thinnest preferred setting, you can now process it for your purpose. If you want to make ravioli, its ready for that. Im making fettuccine sized noodles for Beef Stroganoff so I ran the pasta sheets through the fettuccine cutter.
Check out some of my other recent Recipes
https://lemonsandlavenderfarm.com/tender-and-juicy-roasted-pork-tenderloin-with-herbs/
https://lemonsandlavenderfarm.com/classic-creamy-new-york-style-cheesecake-recipe/
https://lemonsandlavenderfarm.com/how-to-make-easy-artisan-sourdough-bread/
For other fermentation Recipes check out
https://livinglangtonhomestead.com/how-to-make-homemade-organic-apple-cider-vinegar-from-scraps/
https://livinglangtonhomestead.com/fermented-garlic-in-honey/
This looks so yummy! Homemade pasta is definitely on my list to do. I even have the pasta machine so I just need to do it haha.
You Can Do It! Its fun and the results are so delicious.
Good post!
Thank you.
You are welcome. Hope you enjoyed it.